NARROW WIN: Kuching’s Sharon Chua Jia Yiang (left) looks for an opening in the Miri defence during the girl’s competition of the Sarawak Inter-Division U17 Basketball Championship in Bintulu on Wednesday. Miri won 54-48. — Photo by Tommy Ng
KUCHING: Host Bintulu and Miri got off to winning starts in the Sarawak Inter-Division U17 Basketball Championship that kicked off at Bintulu Basketball Association Stadium in Bintulu on Wednesday.
Bintulu played a fast-paced game in front of their supporters to overwhelm Sri Aman 66-42 for their first win in the boy’s competition.
They led 16-8 in the first quarter and stretched the lead to 26-20 in the second quarter.
After the breather, Sri Aman were unable to penetrate the tight defence put up by Bintulu which entered the final quarter with a 49-28 lead. The homesters wrapped up a 24-point victory to collect two points.
Meanwhile, Miri’s boys and girls beat their opponents from Samarahan and Kuching 79-56 and 54-48 respectively.
In the boy’s competition, Miri raced to a 21-13 lead in the first quarter and by the end of second quarter Samarahan managed to reduce the gap to 37-34.
Miri then stepped up a gear in the third quarter to race 13 points clear of their opponents and completed the rout with 24 points more than Samarahan.
It was a different story for the Miri girls who had to work hard for their opening win over Kuching.
The match started with both teams matching point for point but it was Kuching who led 12-8 in the first quarter and the score at half-time was 24-24.
In the remaining two quarters, Miri displayed a consistent game and managed to slowly get ahead of their opponents to scrap out a six-point win.
Miri will play Sibu in the next game and a win will ensure them of a ticket to the final.